Bonner County Prison Escapee Still On The Loose Man Fled Through Open Door And Under Chain-Link Fence

Authorities still are looking for a convicted robber who escaped from the Bonner County Jail Friday night.

Austin Mark Fulton, 25, broke loose from the Bonner County Jail about 9 p.m. through a fire door and under the perimeter fence.

The door was open to assist plumbers who were at the jail to fix a flooded shower in one of the dormitory-style cells, according to Lt. Chuck Day, the jail supervisor.

The perimeter fence isn’t secured at the bottom, leaving a space between the chain-link and the ground. Piles of dirt line the inside of the fence, waiting for work to be completed.

Day said fire doors to the cells have been opened in the past for other types of maintenance without incident.

The jail opened last fall. Fulton is its first escapee.

Tracking dogs were called to help in the pursuit of Fulton, but the trail started to grow cold in the early morning hours.

“I personally was out until 2:30 a.m. following the hounds,” Day said. “We weren’t sure if we had a good trail or not.”

Fulton was in Bonner County Jail on an arrest warrant for armed robbery, stemming from a Dec. 16, 1995, robbery of Domino’s Pizza.

Fulton was employed by Domino’s at the time, and was closing the take-out restaurant with fellow employee Jennifer Inman when a masked gunman came out of the bathroom and demanded the bank bag.

The gunman later was identified by authorities as Cameron Fulton, Austin Fulton’s brother, and both were implicated in the robbery.

Austin Fulton, of Colburn, Idaho, also is a central suspect in a string of robberies in Kootenai County, including crimes at Target, Tidyman’s, Kmart, Goodwill and Sunset Bowling Center. He also is accused of robberies in Montana and Colorado and is serving a 24-year sentence in Colorado for two counts of aggravated robbery.

He was brought to Kootenai County earlier this year to face six counts of robbery there, but Judge Gary Haman dismissed the charges on May 11 because, Haman ruled, prosecutors failed to act quickly enough to prosecute him.

In May, Fulton was moved to the Bonner County Jail and bail was set at $25,000. A note from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department made it clear that Fulton was in Idaho under an interstate agreement from Colorado.

“Not to be released from physical custody for any reason,” the note said.